Rural Leaders ― a Travel Log Vol. 18

January 24, 2025
Makiko Abe

We are sharing with you a series of travel logs written by ARI staff member Steven, who visited Africa in August.
The trip is finally coming to an end, but before going to the final destination for the ECHO conference, they saw one more graduate’s activity.
As many as 1,700 girls were spared from dropping out of school thanks to a skill that Veh（2018 graduate）learned at ARI!
Let’s get started on our trip to Africa!

【An African journey to visit ARI graduates, Day 19】

ECHO
Today we head to Lilongwe to attend a conference organized by ECHO East Africa and an ARI graduate convening organized by AFARI (American Friends of ARI). ECHO is a very cool organization that provides training for small-holder farmers all over the world. Their values and approach are a close match with ARI’s. In fact, when I first met staff from ECHO, they said, “Oh, you are ARI? At our training sessions we often meet people who are already familiar with our organic farming techniques. When we ask them where they learned them, their reply is ARI! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

Mac’s new organization
Before departing Malindi, Mac did a PowerPoint presentation for us on the organization he started last year called Anamagelo Charity Trust. The name comes from his mother’s nickname and the organization itself was inspired by his mother, who never thought of herself and was always giving to her neighbors. In short, the charity’s focus is education, including child sponsorship and school renovation. One recent project was to rebuild a nearby school that had collapsed in cyclone Freddy. Mac is hoping to send some of its staff to ARI, but according to ARI policy the organization will need a bit more time to mature before we can approve it for applications.

The drive to Lilongwe was uneventful, because we have long gotten used to goat traffic jams and police checkpoints. One policeman said he would have to fine Mac for having a beard! (This was a joke, of course. Or was it?)

Veh is on the airwaves!
In Lilongwe we met Veh (2018 ARI graduate) again, this time in her home. I think I already mentioned that Veh is a radio personality for Zodiac radio, hosting an early morning show for farmers. Her husband works for the government in the department of sanitation, so Veh told us that if we see any trash around town, we should complain to him! Veh looks very much like a city girl with a house in a more upscale part of Lilongwe, but I really like her approach. She goes out to seek opportunities where she can help communities, and this is what she was eager to show us.

Veh is helping to keep1,700 girls in school!
“Four girls have been saved from early marriage,” Veh explained as she drove us to a local school. “What? What do you mean?” I asked. “It’s because of our sanitary pad project. When girls reach puberty, they drop out of school. It’s simply because they don’t have sanitary pads, so they stay home from school for a week every month during their period. Eventually, they fall behind and quit. After that, there are few options open to them, and some are forced to get married as early as 14 years old.”

Veh learned about making reusable cloth sanitary pads at ARI and when she got home, she approached the head teacher of Dzenza Primary School, which is not far from her home, to ask if she could teach this skill to the girls. “No problem. You can start,” was the immediate reply. This was kind of a shock, because topics like this can be taboo in this society. Veh expected to meet resistance, but there was none. So, for the last seven years she has been teaching the girls how to make their own pads. ¾ of the 2,300 strong student body are female, so there is no shortage of demand for this product. The school now employs a tailor to make these pads, but Veh ensures that the girls also know how to make them themselves. We met a group of “Veh’s girls” who were just about to take their exams for secondary school. Veh has watched as these kids grow up and is proud that they have stayed in school and are not afraid to hold on to their dreams. Veh herself is an inspiration to them. She is successful and self-confident and with her smooth radio voice, that the kids hear on the public airwaves, they find her very cool!

A couple of side notes about this school are that it was established as a Presbyterian Mission School in 1928 and the church on the grounds was built in 1932. In one of the classrooms, we saw kids practicing karate. I wondered if this was a JOCV project (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers – like the Peace Corps, only Japanese!). JOCVers are famous for teaching sports to kids around the world, especially karate!
And lastly, Veh pointed out a borehole that was built with funding from a Mission Intern that she met at ARI. His nickname is ‘King,’ but I don’t remember his real name, because we never used it. Unfortunately, the well has gone dry, so they need to check into how to revive it.

Big family hugs
That evening the four of us (Veh, MacDonald, Kai, and Steven) headed north to Mponela to the spacious Hotel Linde, the venue for the ECHO East Africa Conference. This is also the site of the ARI graduate convening, which I am very excited about. Mambud from Sierra Leone and Patrick from Liberia were already there and greeted me with exuberant ARI hugs. The ARI Worldwide network is really a big family. I’ll talk more about these two graduates and the rest of the conference in the next entries, but for now, I think I’ll settle in for a good night’s sleep.

Written by Steven Cutting (Graduate Outreach Coordinator)
Travelling with Kai Shinoda (Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator)

Click here to read the series of articles

Vol.0 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Prologue】

Vol.1 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 1-2】

Vol.2 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 3】

Vol.3 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 4】

Vol.4 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 5】

Vol.5 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 6】

Vol.6 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 7】

Vol.7 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 8】

Vol.8 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 9】

Vol.9 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 10】

Vol.10 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 11】

Vol.11 【The African journey to visit ARI graduates Day 12】